Kentucky's running game has not been a point of emphasis thus far

Despite three consecutive games where Kentucky’s offense has shown an odd combination of explosiveness and ineptitude, the one thing unmistakably clear is that Ray Davis is a dude. The transfer by way of Vanderbilt and Temple leads Kentucky in yards from scrimmage and has been the Wildcats’ one consistent threat among a horde of inconsistency.

I am no football guru by any stretch of the imagination, but it might be prudent to get this man the ball a little more often.

Davis received just 10 touches against Akron on Saturday night but still managed 169 scrimmage yards. Three of those plays came by way of a reception, which means the starting running back carried the ball just seven times all game.

To be fair, Kentucky utilized more of a running back-by-committee approach on Saturday with Davis accounting for just 44 percent of halfback rushes. The staff promised a by-committee philosophy in the offseason before abandoning it quickly against Ball State. Regardless, the run game has been more of an afterthought rather than the offensive focal point no matter who is getting the ball.

Kentucky’s yards per rush should instill trust

Out of 48 offensive plays Kentucky ran against Akron (a number much lower than it probably should be), the ‘Cats handed it off to a running back just 16 times. That is a mere 33.3 percent of its plays and is not just a one-off. Through the first three games, Kentucky has run the ball with its running backs on just 32.5 percent of their offensive snaps. It isn’t as if the running game has been all that bad.

Against Akron, Kentucky’s backs ran for 144 yards in those 16 carries, good for nine yards per rush. Even if you take out the two big gains by Ray Davis and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye that inflated this statistic quite a bit, Kentucky still averaged 4.9 yards per tailback rush. That includes 7.7 yards per tote from JuTahn McClain and six yards per carry by Ramon Jefferson.

Overall through the first three games, Kentucky is averaging a whopping six yards per rush, good for 8th best in college football, yet they rank 132nd overall in rush attempts per game. Perhaps this is a result of a small sample size mixed with a few explosive runs to skew the mean, but it is remarkable nonetheless. Mark Stoops’ teams are known for their blue-collar tough football, and a smash-mouth run game has usually been a part of that. It would be good to see them lean into that mentality a bit more as SEC play begins.

Why the hesitation?

If Kentucky has shown such success on the ground, what has been Liam Coen’s hesitation to hand the football off? In a way, it kind of makes sense considering Devin Leary’s skillset and expressing the desire to combine his passing ability with the team’s dynamic wide receivers. Coen is a quarterback coach at heart, so making a point to help shake the rust off the player he recruited to lead his offense is reasonable.

Moreover, Davis had a negative rushing play in each of Kentucky’s two 3-and-outs following their impressive first drive against Akron. Those were few and far between when Chris Rodriguez was in the backfield and getting put behind the chains like that early on likely did not breed confidence in running the ball on first down.

The thing is, Chris Rodriguez isn’t walking through that door. The backs on this team are more of the shifty sort, rather than the bulldog type who specialize in yards after contact. In short, Davis, McClain, and DSK juke when C-Rod ran defenders over.

Still, just because some runs are going to go backward from time to time, that shouldn’t necessarily render the run game null and void.

The play-action pass

Even though Kentucky hasn’t leaned into the run thus far into the season, it hasn’t hurt their affinity for the play-action pass. Against Akron, Devin Leary showed a handoff on 13 of his 26 dropbacks. That means Kentucky faked giving the ball to their running back just three fewer times than they actually did.

Again, Liam Coen’s little finger has forgotten more about football than I will ever know in my life, so I might be the least qualified person on the planet to question his offensive philosophy, but from what I understand, a strong running game is what makes play-action passes more effective. Increasing the times when Leary actually hands it off might make those fakes more meaningful.

With Kentucky taking on Vanderbilt next week, it will be interesting to see if Kentucky decides to ride Ray Davis a little more often, as he will almost certainly be anxious to have a big game against his former squad.